Judgement
by StevenQ
Summary: It was Glinda's duty to tell Nessarose what happened in the Emerald City, but she never imagined it would be so hard.


**Title:** Judgement  
**Disclaimer:** Wicked belongs to Universal Studios, and the Gregory Maguire.  
**Setting: **Musicalverse  
**Notes:** Okay, I'm not entirely happy with this piece, but in both the book and the musical, Nessa is a judgemental person. I can only imagine her initial reaction to the events at the end of Act 1. Especially given what she reprimands her for during 'Wicked Witch Of The East' 

**Judgement**

"Nessarose?" A hesitant Glinda asked, as she stood in the doorway to the small private study that Madam Morrible had set aside for the crippled girl as she could hardly make her way up the stairs of the main library where most of the students did their studying. Not that Glinda really cared about Nessa's study habits right now, or anyone elses for that matter. It was just an easy way to distract herself from what she had to do.

The girl in the chair looked up, a slight frown on her otherwise clear features, as if she couldn't quite fathom why Glinda was here. It wasn't unreasonable for her to be confused either, because Glinda hadn't exactly been a close friend to Nessa. Mostly it was the fact that Elphaba and Glinda spent time together that brought the two girls in contact.

"Glinda," she responded, forcing a smile onto her face. "You're back from the Emerald City. How did it go? Did you see the Wizard? Where is Elphaba?"

The questions weren't actually a torrent, they merely seemed like they were to the still somewhat shell-shocked Gillikenese girl. She took Nessa's questions as permission to come into the room and took a step forward, trying to school her face into a neutral mask. News of Elphaba's defiance hadn't spread to Shiz yet. The Wizard had made quite sure that before the news was released, he had his propaganda in place to properly villify the green girl, and so other than Morrible's announcement, only a few rumors of trouble had leaked back, and none of the specifics.

"Nessa, something happened in the Emerald City, when Elphie and I met the Wizard," Glinda began, planning to give the younger girl as complete a description as she could. No matter that she had decided not to go with her friend, she owed it to her to tell their friends the truth. Glinda never got a chance, as she was yanked out of her thoughts by the sound of Nessa's hand, the one holding her pencil slamming into the desk with a bang, even as a frustrated look crossed her eyes.

"What did she do?" Nessa demanded, and Glinda was shocked at the venom in her voice.

"Nessa... I-" she began, but was cut off.

"Glinda, we've been hearing rumors for the last two days that something happened in the Emerald city. I prayed to the unnamed God that just this once, it wouldn't have anything to do with Elphaba, but you're here, and she isn't." Nessa's anger was a living presence in the room, and Glinda fought hard not to flinch back. "So what did she do Glinda?"

For a moment Glinda didn't know how to answer. She hadn't expected a reaction like that, especially not from Nessa. Sure the two Thropp sisters had argued from time to time, but they were sisters for Lurline's sake. Surely if anyone in Oz would give Elphie a fair chance, it would be Nessa.

"Nessa, she was trying to do the right thing," Glinda finally managed to say, and was dismayed as Nessa rolled her eyes.

"The right thing. She is always trying to do the right thing," Nessa scolded, mimicking Glinda's voice. "And she never gives a moments thought to how her actions affect others. She is so determined to be her own person, that she selfishly never cares about how her actions reflect on me, and on father."

"That's not fair," Glinda protested. "Nessa, the Wizard asked her to do something that was wrong, and she refused and he called her wicked."

"Oh wonderful," The girl scoffed. "She was being herself again was she? Let me guess, she managed to anger the Wizard in his own home because she couldn't keep a leash on her temper?" It was a question, but Glinda could tell a rethorical question when she heard one.

She didn't understand why Nessa was so angry, and so unwilling to listen to her, but she was getting it all wrong. Sure, Elphie had gotten mad at the Wizard, but she had good reason, and she wasn't just thinking of herself when she did it either, she was thinking of all the Animals that the Wizard had hurt and captured and caged. In fact, her actions in the attic, the things Elphie had said proved beyond a shadow of a doubt to Glinda's mind that she was doing it exactly because no one else would stand up for the Animals.

Glinda had seen the betrayal on her best friends face when she realised that the Wizard was a fraud, that the iconic hero and ruler of Oz that Elphaba had looked up to her entire life was nothing but a conniver who was using a manufactured threat to pull the people of Oz together.

Glinda knew all this to be true, but looking into the angry eyes of her younger sister, she knew that she would never be able to explain that to her. Just as Elphaba's words in the Emerald City had given Glinda new insight into her friend, so too did Nessa's words give Glinda insight into the mind of the future governor of Munchkinland. Nessa had spent her whole life suffering, not only under her own injuries, but also for being the sister of the green girl. Elphaba's lack of popularity, not to mention her lack of social graces, would have affected the younger girl as well. So whenever something bad happened, Nessa was predisposed to blame Elphaba for it.

"Nessa, you don't understand," Glinda began again. "Elphie wasn't trying to be selfish, she was trying to help the Animals."

"You're wrong Glinda," Nessa responded, and the anger had left her voice, replaced by a cold and cutting tone. "I do understand. I understand my sister better than anyone, and she decided that her precious Animals were more important than either myself or our father."

You don't know her at all, Glinda thought to herself. But it was obvious from Nessa's tone of voice that she had made up her mind, and Glinda could almost understand why. If Elphaba was declared evil, then it was possible that people would begin to wonder if her family, her sister and father weren't touched by the same taint. The only way to make sure that none of Elphaba's bad reputation spread to them, was to deny her, and everything she had tried to achieve. 

Glinda had seen the same thing happen to her when she had become friends with Elphaba. In the eyes of many, that action had made her unpopular, and her gaggle of followers had immediately denounced her, so that their popularity wouldn't be affected by Glinda's choices, as they made it quite clear to everyone that Glinda was no longer one of them.

"Nessa," she whispered, a dismayed look on her face. "You're her sister, you can't just abandon her."

"I didn't," Nessa replied haughtily. "She abandoned me when she chose to set herself against the Wizard."

For a long moment the two girls stared at each other across the room, before Nessa turned her wheelchair back to the desk and picked up the pencil. She gave Glinda a glance that was filled with disinterest. "Was there anything else miss Glinda?"

And there it was, the curt dismissal, using her title as well as her name to make it quite clear that any of Elphaba's taint that had clung to Glinda was not going to be transferred to her. Glinda stood frozen in shock for a moment at the realisation that she, Glinda Arduennes of the Upper Uplands was being dismissed like a lowly servant, then slowly pulled herself together. She should have seen it coming, after all she had rebuked people in exactly the same tone at various times. And no matter how much money the Arduennes had, no matter how influential they were, Glinda was simply the daughter of a rich family, whereas Nessa was the heir of the ruler of Munchkinland.

Her own voice was steady, even though she felt nothing of the sort. "No miss Nessarose, there's nothing else you want to hear."

Without looking at her, Nessa turned back to her work and within moments the scratch of lead on parchment filled the room.

Blinking back tears, Glinda turned and left the room. Not only had she abandoned Elphie, but her choice of words had also caused Nessa to do the same. She didn't know if there was anything she could have said to convince Nessa, but even if there was, it was too late now. Nessarose had made up her mind, and that was at least partially due to Glinda's words.

As she stepped out of the hallway and into the early morning Shiz sun, she didn't bother to wipe away the tears at how she had failed Elphie a second time.

-finis-


End file.
